Sheet-metal internal-combustion engine.



A. H. LEIPERT:

SHEET METAL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21.19%].

1,287,359. Patented Dec.10, 1918.

A nbnusrs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

AUGUST H. LEIPERT, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YQRKIASsIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL MOTORCOMPANY, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

SHEET-METAL INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

- Application medium 21, 1917, Serial No. 176,042.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST H. Lnrrnnr, a. citizen of the United States,borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, in the State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-MetalInternal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the'accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines in which theengine walls and crank case are formed of sheet metal and it has for itsprincipal object to provide an engine casing of this character in whichthe walls of the engine casing are formed integral with the side wallsof the crank case and the whole is pressed from a single blank of metal.In forming an engine casing of this character not only must mechanicalconsiderations concerned with the oper ation of the engine be taken intoaccolint, but the manufacturing problems connected with the handling ofsheet metal in a way which will admit of the formationof the desiredstructure must be met. By the present invention it is believed thatthere is provided a structure in which great strength and rigidity arerealized by forming the walls of the crank case integral with the wallsof the cylinder section from a single integral blank by suitablestamping or pressing operations available in the sheet metal art.In'accordance with the invention the outer side walls of the cylindersection and crank case are formed integral, while the end walls of thecylinder section are formed by united flaps stamped in the blank andbent at right angles to the side walls of the cylinder section. The endwalls of the crank case, on the other hand, are formed of separateplates, placed in position and united with the side walls of the crankcase and so shaped as to receive the end bearings for the crank shaft.The proposed construction will appear more clearly from the descriptionof the accompanying drawings, in which V Figure 1 is a somewhatconventional view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of asheet metal engine formed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in transverse section,

taken along the planes indicated by the broken lines 2-2 residing in therivets or other available of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction ofthe'arrows.

Fig. 3 is a view in plane indicated by the line 3-3 'of Fig. 1 andlooklng in thedirection of the arrows, the engine head being removed.While the parts of the engine casing heremafter to be described must be.interconnected, where necessary, as by welding or devices, it is to beunderstood that the character of the connectlons shown in the drawingsare not to plan taken along the v be taken as limiting the invention tosuch I connections. Further, the invention is not to be limited to theshape, size or relative dlsposltion of the parts thereof except in sofar as these parts, considered as separate units, are required to berelated in the precise mannerto be pointed out hereinafter. The sidewalls a of the cylinder section of the engine casing and the end walls athereof are stamped from a single blank of sheet metal integral with thesidewalls a of the crank case. The end walls a, as indicated, may beformed as flaps or flanges extending beyond the side walls proper andbent in toward each other, respectively, at the opposite ends, andarranged to beunited, as by means of rivets b or by welding,'to form.continuous end walls. The said walls of the cylinder section may alsohave pressed therein during the forming operation radiating corrugationsa to facilitate cooling in a manner known. The side walls of the crankcase a may also have stamped therein hand holes a for affording readyaccess to the interior of the crank case. The shell formed in the mannerthus described is completed by applying separate end plates 0 to formthe end walls of the crank case a and these separate end walls may alsobe stamped from sheet metal and be 0 therein to receive bearings for thecrank shaft. A convenient means of uniting these end plate 0 with theside walls a of the crank case and of reinforcing the crank case is toattach angle irons d within the walls of the crank case adjacent theends thereof and extending entirely around the crank case, as indicatedin Fig. 2, and then securing the end plates 0 to these angle pieces asby means of rivets 0'.

formed with openings The angle walls of the crank case by means ofrivets a or by welding, or otherwise, as may be best. The cylindersection has supported therein adjacent its top and bottom horizontalplates 6, f which are preferably welded within the side walls, and areformed with openings 6', f, alined in the top and bottom plates,respectively, to receive the'cyhnders g which, in turn, are suitablyunited with said plates, as by welding.

The head h for the motor may be formed in any suitable way and is, ingeneral, of usual type, and is applied to the sheet metal engine andsecured thereto in any known manner.

The motor casing proper, as formed oi sheet metal in the mannerdescribed and completed with the necessary end plates and top plates, isof simple, light and durable construction and may be shaped by simplepressing or stamping operations and from a single sheet of metal. Thepermanent set given to the walls may be of such accuracy with relationto thebearings and other moving parts of the motor that relativelylittle finishing or machining, if any, will be required. The support ofthe motor on the chassis of an automobile, for instance, may be obtainedas may seem desirable and may be as by means of flanges or the likestruck up integral with some part of the sheet metal walls.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sheet metal casing for an internal combustion engine having theside walls of the cylinder section and the side walls of the crank casestamped from a single sheet of metal and pressed to form and havingopposed fiaps stamped from the same sheet and bent inward andpermanently secured to gether to form the end walls of the cylindersection.

2. A sheet metal casing for an internal combustion engine having theside walls of the cylinder section and the side walls of the crank casestamped from an integral sheet of metal, angle pieces secured in theside walls of the crank case adjacent the ends of the case and separateend plates for the crank case secured to said angle pieces.

This specification signed this th day of June, A. D. 1917.

AUGUST H. LEIPERT.

